Boston Pops embraces every kind of musician at Symphony Hall

Sunday

May 4, 2014 at 3:38 PMMay 4, 2014 at 3:38 PM

By Keith PowersWicked Local Arts correspondent

BOSTON - “We can go from Yo-Yo Ma to Buckwheat Zydeco to Warren Haynes to Itzhak Perlman. It’s what the Pops is all about, the biggest tent possible.”That’s Keith Lockhart, talking about the upcoming spring season for the Boston Pops, which opens Wednesday evening at Symphony Hall. And nobody could argue with him; if anything else, the Pops has always embraced every kind of professional musician, folding them into the Symphony Hall vibe to create music with one of the greatest orchestras in the world.“They only get in trouble when they try to do what we do, when they try to follow us,” Lockhart says about his guest performers. “I tell them, ‘We’re here to follow you. Do what you do. It’s my job as conductor to be the intermediary, and make everyone comfortable.’ “There are always a lot of commonalities between us,” he says. “And I mean everyone. From Yo-Yo, who is, well, Yo-Yo, to someone like Buckwheat, who doesn’t read music. They all want to do great things. And in the end that’s the thing that keeps this job interesting for me.”Since his appointment to replace John Williams as Pops conductor in 1995, Lockhart has done his fair share of interesting things. This spring season brings the usual mix of Broadway performers, classical stars, and “only the Pops can pull that off” shows.Opening night features the return of Jason Alexander, who brings a variety show versatility to the stage, with comedy, dancing and singing. Several “Best of the Pops” evenings give Lockhart and the band a chance to revisit some favorites, including a tribute to Arthur Fiedler and music of Gershwin, Ellington, Copland and Leroy Anderson. Leonard Nimoy makes an appearance, and Warren Haynes reprises his Jerry Garcia tribute that was a Tanglewood hit last summer. Cirque de la Symphonie brings acrobats, contortionists and clowns.Lockhart also leads orchestral accompaniment to “The Wizard of Oz,” with the conductor managing the tricky business of keeping live players onstage in synch with film action and on-screen singers. “It’s like one of the trust fall games that they play at corporate retreats,” he says. “It’s not all ‘Over the Rainbow.’ There are tempo changes and tricky rhythms right in the middle of things. It’s actually a great sense of accomplishment to hit all the marks in those action scenes.”John Williams returns to conduct his popular film nights, leading a selection from some of the stunning movie repertory that he has written over the years. Charles Floyd also returns to conduct his annual gospel night, which this year includes the world premiere of his own composition, “Song of Solomon.” Melissa Etheridge and Jennifer Holliday take star turns as well.Two performances of particular interest to Lockhart are his “Gatsby Night,” featuring the jazz band Hot Sardines, and a performance with Billy Porter, winner of last year’s Tony Award for best actor in the musical “Kinky Boots.”“I’ve known Billy for thirty years,” Lockhart says. “He was an undergraduate when I was teaching at Carnegie-Mellon. The voice can do anything: standard Broadway to Motown to Gospel. I’ve always been blown away. He’s a great dancer too, and this is his orchestral debut.“After last year, when we went back to the ’60s for the ‘Mad Men’ concerts, I came across this group the Hot Sardines. Think of the jazz groups you would see in Berlin or Paris cabarets in the early ’30s or something. They really got me to thinking about the speakeasies, and the secret knocks of the Prohibition period.“There is so much musical expression from that era, and before, going back to World War I. Not just Fats Waller and Gershwin, but Varèse and little known composers like John Alden Carpenter. We’re going to play Carpenter’s ‘Skyscrapers.’ It has this really kind of brawny energy.”Annual concerts celebrating Harvard night, Tufts night, Boston University night, City Year night and MIT Tech night also dot the schedule.Boston Pops Spring 2014 seasonWHEN: Through June 14 WHERE: Symphony Hall, 300 Massachusetts Ave., Boston TICKETS: $24-$128 INFO: 888-266-1200. www.bso.org

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